Popular for going on 80 years now, the Universal Monsters are as undying in real life as they are in the movies. Since their debut, they’ve been reincarnated numerous times, through films, TV shows, model kits and especially toys, but their latest incarnation may be their most unspeakably beautiful. The Universal Select line of figures captures the world’s most famous monsters in the 7-inch scale Diamond Select has made popular, with incredibly detailed bases and accessories. But if the accessories aren’t as important to you, there’s a more bare-bones line of Universal Monsters for sale at Toys “R” Us, with a third figure not available anywhere else. Following up on Series 1’s Wolfman, Mummy and Creature from the Black Lagoon, we present Series 2, available in September 2011!
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With all of the Avengers movie madness going on, you would think we’ve forgotten their comic book roots. But fear not! We’re pleased to unveil classic Hawkeye, the first in Diamond Select’s line of Disney Store-exclusive Marvel Select figures! Hawkeye comes with the Wasp (perched on an arrow) and a detailed base featuring the battered remains of Ultron, and will be followed up by classic interpretations of Thor, Captain America and the Black Widow! Hawkeye and Thor hit in August, while Cap and BW will follow in September. More pics to come!

Were you looking for some new M.A.X. Elite Heroes to supplement the ones you already bought at Toys R Us? Well you are in luck. We here at DST are offering this new 4 pack that is available only in specialty stores!

Word on the street is that a bunch of new Marvel Minimates – the 2.5-inch-tall action figures from DST that are as portable as they are affordable — have just hit stores!

The fresh-off-the-truck Captain America: The First Avenger Movie Minimates are now at Toys “R” Us, including two-packs of Cap and the Red Skull, Frontline Cap and Bucky, and the TRU-exclusive USO Cap/Dum-Dum Dugan and Gabriel Jones/Hydra Flame Trooper! On June 1, specialty and comic book stores will receive those first two sets, plus Howard Stark and Peggy Carter, each with a Hydra Trooper — visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ to find a store near you.

While you’re there, also be on the lookout for Thor Movie Minimates in both Toys “R” Us stores and specialty shops. TRU has Thor with Destroyer, Loki with Odin, and two exclusive sets: Sif with Volstagg and Civilian Thor with Asgardian Guard. Comic and specialty shops have the first two sets, plus Jane Foster and Agent Coulson, each with their own personal Frost Giant.

Also hitting now, the 10th Toys “R” Us-exclusive wave of comic-based Marvel Minimates includes Danger Room Wolverine with Omega Red and Big Time Spider-Man with Shadowlands Iron Fist, as well as two Age of Apocalypse sets — Blink/Sabretooth and Nemesis/Morph! Over on the specialty market, comic shops should already have Marvel Wave 38 in stock, which teams up that Spidey/Iron Fist set with Evil Daredevil/Elektra, White Tiger/Hand Ninja and a Classic White Tiger variant set!

Not only are Real Ghostbusters Minimates available at your local Toys R Us, they are available at your favorite comics store as well. Be on the lookout for this specialty markey exclusive four pack featuring Janine, Slimer, Egon, and Ray. No Real Ghostbusters Minimates collection will be complete without it!

The best-selling Marvel Select line is proud to add another of the Marvel movie franchises to its lineup! This time the movie Captain America: The First Avenger makes its Marvel Select debut! Based on the likeness of actor Chris Evans from the upcoming summer 2011 blockbuster, this movie-accurate Captain America figure includes Marvel Select’s standard 16 points of articulation and stands approximately 7 inches tall. As an added bonus, the figure comes packaged with part of a display stand that can be combined with the base from the Red Skull movie figure (sold separately) to form a diorama, recreating a key scene from the movie! Expected availability is August 2011!

Currently waging a full-on assault on Toys “R” Us stores nationwide is Wave 2 of Diamond Select Toys’ Halo Minimates! The wave includes Nobel-3 Emile with Nobel-4 Jun, Scout Green with Jackal Major (Violet Shield), and the TRU-exclusive Mark 4 Active Camo/Elite Assault Blue and ODST Blue/Arbiter Active Camo packs. All are hitting stores right now, so mount a mission to your local Toys “R” Us — or raid your nearest specialty or comic shop for a four-pack of Spartan (Teal), Spartan Rogue (Green), Brute Chieftan, and Jackal Major (Red Shield). Visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ to find a shop near you! And be on the lookout for the Rocket Warthog, coming in July to TRU!

The real-life Calico Jack’s most famous contribution to the world of pirates was undoubtedly the design of the Jolly Roger, the skull and crossed swords that later emblazoned the flag and sails of many a pop-culture pirate. But his other contribution was that he was an equal-opportunity employer! In a time when most captains wouldn’t allow a woman to set foot on their ship, Jack employed both Anne Bonny and Mary “Mark” Read as crew members, and today — in the spirit of equality — Anne will be getting not one, but two figures from Diamond Select! The first will be a 9-inch PVC statue in our Femme Fatales line (below, due in September), and the second will be a Pirate Raiders-compatible Minimate in a Femme Fatales boxed set! So be on the lookout for both, to celebrate your own personal Pirate Week and to expand your Pirate Raiders crew!

Femme Fatales Anne Bonny

We’ve still got a week or two before the new X-Men movie, “X-Men: First Class,” sends us back to the swinging sixties, but there’s only one way to bring these old-school X-Men back to the present with you: as Minimates! Toys “R” Us will soon be receiving their exclusive wave of X-Men: First Class Minimates, a series of four two-packs featuring our popular 2.5-inch mini-figures. The two-packs pair up Emma Frost with Havok, Xavier with Shaw, Beast with Azazel, and Magneto with Mystique, and not only are they the only toys being made for the new movie, they’re only available at TRU! And in case you’re more into the “X-Men: First Class” comic book, a boxed set of four figures from that series — Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman and Angel in their redesigned training outfits — will be available in comic shops and specialty stores in July. So we’ve got both the First Class movie and the First Class comics covered! Diamond Select Toys: We’ve got a lot of Class.

Now, all you Minimate collectors may think the Pirate Raiders Minimates look cool, but you may also be wondering if they fit into your collection. The answer is most assuredly yes! If you’re a Ghostbusters collector, the Real Ghostbusters have definitely fought ghostly pirates before (in episode 17, “Sea Fright”), which makes Captain Charles Vanes and his undead crew a must-have. Back to the Future fans may recall that an animated Marty McFly briefly became a pirate for one episode of the cartoon (#14, “Mac the Black”). And Marvel Comics have become pretty famous for their time-traveling storylines, with some major characters going the swashbuckling route. Who can forget Fantastic Four issue 5, where the Thing donned a pirate disguise and became the pirate known as Blackbeard? Or the Nightcrawler mini-series, where he joined a pirate crew in another dimension? Or that time Deadpool became a pirate in Deadpool 13 and 14? Here, we’ve dressed him up like a British naval officer, but you can see the possibilities…